Ventilator for bathrooms

ABSTRACT

A VENTILATOR FOR BATHROOMS AND THE LIKE WHICH MAY BE EASILY INSTALLED IN EXISTING BATHROOMS AND WHICH IS PROVIDED WITH A HOOD THAT IS PLACED OVER THE OVERFLOW PIPE IN THE WATER TANK. THIS HOOD IS CONNECTED TO A CHANNEL MEMBER THAT TELESCOPES OVER ANOTHER CHANNEL MEMBER TO FACILITATE INSTALLATION OF THE DEVICE. A BLOWER IS CONNECTED TO THE CHANNEL MEMBERS AND ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE DEVICE PROVIDES A FILTER OF ACTIVATED CHARCOAL CONNECTED TO THE CHANNEL JUST AHEAD OF THE BLOWER. ANOTHER EMBODIMENT OF THIS DEVICE EMPLOYS A CHECK VALVE PROVIDED IN THE VENTILATING PIPE OF A TOILET BOWL WHICH IS EQUIPPED WITH A FLUSH TYPE VALVE. THE CHECK VALVE FUNCTIONS TO PREVENT WATER FROM ENTERING THE VENTILATING DUCT DURING FLUSHING OF THE TOILET.

Dec. 14, 1971 w. L. MARTZ 3,626,554

VENTILATOR FOR BATHROOMS Filed Dec. 8, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 \\\\\\\\\\A ///l //\l ll n\ \\\L\\\\"\\\\\\S o FIG.3

INVENTOR WILLIAM L. MARTZ LX \Z ATTORVN s Dec. 14, 1971 w. L. MARTZ VENTILATOR FOR BATHROOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 8, 1969 INVENTOR. WILLIAM L. MARTZ FIG.6

ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office 3,626,554 VENTILATOR FOR BATHROOMS William L. Martz, 15875 Wood-acre Road, Los Gatos, Calif. 95030 Filed Dec. 8, 1969, Ser. No. 882,815 Int. Cl. E03d 9/04 US. Cl. 4-213 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ventilator for bathrooms and the like which may be easily installed in existing bathrooms and which is provided with a hood that is placed over the overflow pipe in the water tank. This hood is connected to a channel member that telescopes over another channel member to facilitate installation of the device. A blower is connected to the channel members and one embodiment of the device provides a filter of activated charcoal connected to the channel just ahead of the blower. Another embodiment of this device employs a check valve provided in the ventilating pipe of a toilet bowl which is equipped with a flush type valve. The check valve functions to prevent water from entering the ventilating duct during flushing of the toilet.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to ventilators for 'water closets.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved bathroom ventilating device for efficiently eliminating odors that appear in water closets during use.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved bathroom ventilator that is economical to manufacture and may be easily installed by any home owner.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved bathroom ventilator employing a device for drawing the odors from the toilet bowl through the overflow pipe of the water tank and passing these fumes and odors through a filter of activated charcoal before exhausting the purified air into the bathroom.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved toilet ventilator that is adapted for use in toilets equipped with flush type valve, said ventilator being provided with a check valve that prevents water from entering the ventilating duct during flushing of the toilet.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which it relates from the following specification, claims and drawings in which, briefly:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation partially in section of an embodiment of this bathroom ventilator invention in which the ventilator exhaust fan is located below the bathroom floor;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the hood and channel members employed in this ventilator invention in conjunction with the overflow pipe of the toilet water tank;

FIG. 3 is a view in side elevation of an embodiment of this invention employing a charcoal filter;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 2 showing the oval shape of the hood which is placed over the top of the overflow pipe of the toilet water tank;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a fan and nozzle arrange- 3,626,554 Patented Dec. 14, 1971 ment that is adapted to be used in conjunction with this ventilator invention;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the installation of the ventilator channel through a bathroom wall;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the wall plate used for the ventilator channel in the embodiment of this invention shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view of an embodiment of this ventilator invention adapted for use with flush type valve water connection;

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the check valve shown in FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the Venturi tube employed in the air duct shown in FIG. 8.

Referring to the drawing in detail there is illustrated a water closet ventilator which is adapted to be used with conventional water closet equipment employing a bowl 10 and a water tank 11 connected thereto. The water tank 11 is provided with an overflow pipe 12, the top part of which extends into the hood 13 which is of generally oval cross section as shown in FIG. 4. The bottom of the hood 13 extends below the water level in the tank 11 so that the fumes from the toilet bowl 10 pass upward through the overflow pipe 12 and into the hood 13 and they are prevented from going into the tank above the water level because of the water seal between pipe 12 and hood 13.

The top of the hood 13 is connected to the rectangular chamber 14 which is sealed on three of its sides. The fourth side of chamber 14 is open and receives the rectangular channel 15 which fits closely into chamber 14 and extends therein a short distance as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The outer end of the channel 15 is connected to a channel 16 which extends downward on the back side of the tank 11 and the bottom tapered end of which fits into a round coupling member 17. The round bottom portion of coupling member 17 is connected to the pipe 18 that leads through a hole in the bathroom floor to the exhaust blower 19 which is positioned beneath the bathroom.

An electrical connection 22 which is adapted to be controlled by the switch 24 is provided to the electric motor of blower 19 so that the blower may be turned on by operating the switch 24 when it is desired to exhaust the fumes from the toilet bowl 10 through the overflow pipe 12, hood 13 and connecting channels 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18.

The hood 13 is made in generally oval cross section as shown in FIG. 4 so that it may be readily placed over the top of the overflow pipe 12 after the channels 15 and 16 are positioned with reference to the water tank 11. Thus when the side 13a of the hood 13 is placed against the pipe 12 the end 14a of the chamber 14 is in line -with the end 15a of the channel 15. Chamber 14 is then telescoped over channel 15 until the side 13b of the hood 13 is almost against the overflow pipe 12. Thus the hood 13 may be readily removed from the pipe 12 for sevicing if necessary.

The arrangement shown in FIG. 3 is similar to that shown in FIG. 1 except that this embodiment of the invention is provided with a cannister 25 filled with activated charcoal. The cannister 25 is connected with its inlet to the coupling member 17 and the outlet thereof is connected to the exhaust blower 26. The outlet 27 of the exhaust blower 26 is vented directly into the bathroom since the activated charcoal in the cannister absorbs the fumes and odors drawn through it from the toilet bowl 10. The cannister 25 is readily detachable from the coupling member 17 and blower 26 so that it may be removed and the charcoal replaced periodically.

Instead of the blower 19 being positioned beneath the bathroom an exhaust fan 28 may be employed located in the attic with an inlet port in the ceiling of the bathroom in this case the pipe 29 which has a curved outlet as shown in FIG. 5, is connected to the round portion of the coupling 17, instead of the pipe 18 as shown in FIG. 1. The curved outlet of the pipe 29 extends approximately half way around the fan on the underside thereof to increase the effective suction of the fan in drawing air through the pipe 29. The electrical connection 30 to the motor driving the fan 28 may also be controlled by the bathroom switch 24 to provide electric current to the motor which may be turned on when it is desired to exhaust the fumes from the toilet bowl 10.

In FIG. 6 there is shown a modification of this invention in which the channel member 14 extends into the bathroom wall 31 through a face plate 32 which is provided with a rectangular opening 33 for receiving the channel member 14. The face plate 32 is supported in the wall by two sets of supporting members 34 and 35 which are attached to the back side of this face plate. Initially the supporting members 34 and 35 are made quite large in relation to the face plate 32 so that the face plate may be adjusted when it is being positioned into the wall 31 to bring the hole 33 in alignment with the channel member 14. This aligning operation is performed by removing different amounts of the supporting members 34 and 35 to locate the face plate at the proper level. The inner end of the channel 14 is received by the coupling member 36, the coupling member 36 is provided with a rectangular portion which is adapted to receive the channel member 14 and a round portion which is adapted to fit into the pipe elbow 37. The elbow 37 is fitted into the pipe 38 which extends into the attic and is connected to the pipe 29 shown in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 8 there is shown another modification of this invention that is adapted to be used with toilet bowls equipped with a flush type valve, also sometimes referred to as a sloan valve. The toilet bowl 10 which is of conventional construction is equipped with a pipe 39 and flush valve 40. The flush valve 40 is provided with an actuating lever 41 and is connected between the water supply pipe 42 and the pipe 39. A T-connection 43 is provided to the pipe 39 and the pipe 44 which extends to the check valve 45 is connected to the T 43.

The check valve 45 is made in two parts 46 and 47 which are coupled together by the coupling member 48 that engages a shoulder on the bottom part 46 and is threaded to the upper part 47. The upper part 47 is provided with members 49 which support the valve member 50 in its rest position. For this purpose the bottom portions of supporting members 49 are provided with inturned portions 49a on which the valve member rests. The upper part 47 of the check valve 45 is connected to the pipe 52 which extends into the ventilating duct 53 and is provided with a nozzle 54 that is located in the side of the duct 53. The upper end of the tube 52 extends into the opening 54 of the Venturi 55 that is provided in the exhaust 53. Thus as the fan or blower 56 which is positioned in the duct 53 draws air through the duct the Venturi 55 causes air to be sucked up through pipe 52, check valve 45, pipe 43 and 39 and the bowl 10. When the sloan valve 40 is operated by pressing on the lever 41 thereof and the bowl 10 is flushed by water coming from supply pipe 42 through valve 40 some of the water will enter the pipe 44 and proceed up into the check valve 45. Water entering the check valve 45 lifts the valve memher 50 off of its supporting shoulders 49a and presses this valve against the seating surface 51, thereby preventing water from passing through the check valve 45 and into the pipe 52. When the flush valve 40 is closed water leaves the pipe 44 and flows into the bowl 10, at the same time the valve member 50 drops to its rest position on supporting shoulders 49a.

While I have shown preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is capable of modification from the forms shown so that the scope of the invention should be limited only by the proper scope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim is:

1. In a ventilator for a conventional bathroom toilet provided with a water tank having an overflow pipe positioned therein connected to the toilet bowl the combination comprising a hood positioned over the top of the overflow pipe with the bottom of said hood extending below the water line in the tank, said hood having an oval shape with the long diameter thereof equal to approximately twice the diameter of said pipe, said supporting means comprising a hollow chamber having the bottom thereof fixedly attached to the top of said hood, said bottom being provided with an aperture through which the cavity in said hood is connected to the hollow of said chamber, said supporting means also including a substantially fiat channel member forming a telescoping connection with said chamber so that said chamber may be attached to said channel member after said hood is placed over said overflow pipe by telescoping said channel member into said chamber, the channel through said channel member opening into the hollow of said chamber, and communicating with the cavity in said hood, said substantially flat channel member being positioned between the cover and the top of the rear wall of said tank and being clamped therebetween, and means producing suction through said channel member, said chamber, said hood and said overflow pipe when said tank is filled with water to said water line so that fumes are drawn from said toilet bowl.

2. In a bathroom. ventilator adapted for use with a toilet provided with a sloan type flush valve connected to the toilet bowl by a water inlet pipe, the combination comprising a T connection positioned in said water inlet pipe so that the water flowing through said sloan valve flows into said toilet bowl through said T connection, a ventilator pipe connected to said T connection so that fumes from said toilet bowl are vented through said water pipe, said T connection and said ventilator pipe, an air duct, a Venturi tube positioned inside said air duct, said ventilating pipe being connected to said Venturi tube so that means drawing air through said air duct produces suction in said Venturi tube to draw the fumes out of said toilet bowl through said Venturi tube, a check valve positioned in said ventilator pipe 21 short distance from said T connection, said check valve being normally open so that said fumes may be vented therethrough, said check valve having a valve member actuated by water pressure when said toilet bowl is being flushed so that water cannot flow out of the water inlet pipe through said ventilating tube and said check valve functions as a vacuum breaker.

3. In a ventilator for a conventional bathroom toilet provided with a water tank having an overflow pipe positioned therein connected to the toilet bowl the combination as set forth in claim 1 further characterized in that said means producing suction through said channel member, said chamber, said hood and said overflow pipe when said tank is filled with water to said water line so that fumes are drawn from said toilet bowl comprises means connecting said substantially flat channel member to a ventilator pipe an end of which is open in a hole in the bathroom wall, said connecting means including a face plate and members for supporting said face plate over said open end of said ventilator, said face plate having a hole receiving said channel member, said supporting members fitting into said open end of said ventilator.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Jentzer 42 1 3 Raymond 4--213 6 3,122,757 3/ 1964 Sowards 4213 3,188,658 6/1965 Dixon 4215 3,192,539 7/1965 Martz 4218 3,366,979 2/ 1968 Johnston 4-213 5 FOREIGN PATENTS 662,210 2/ 1965 Belgium 4-213 27,817 10/ 1905 Great Britain 4216 1,347,873 11/1963 France 4213 HERBERT F. ROSS, Primary Examiner D. B. MASSENBERG, Assistant Examiner 

